RUNDU, 12 September (IRIN) - AIDS, not the border war with Angolan rebels,
is the real threat to people's security in Namibia's northeast Kavango
region. Galvanised by the crisis, a group of 130 HIV-positive people, most
of them between 15 and 25 years, declared their status publicly at the
border town of Rundu over the weekend.

The event put a face on official statistics that Kavango bears the
distinction of having one of Namibia's largest HIV-positive populations.
Around 16% of pregnant women from Kavango tested HIV-positive during
the last survey by the Ministry of Health and Social Services. Nationally,
some 19% of Namibians between the ages of 15 and 49 are living with
the virus.

The real impact of the Rundu event was felt when the group, some with
poverty written all over their faces but singing 'I surrender all', entered
a packed St Mary's Parish Church on Saturday, to the applause of around 600
people inside. They gathered, some out of curiosity, others to sympathise
and a few concerned that they might have had sexual intercourse with one of
the 130.

The group is the Kavango branch of Lironga Eparu. It means 'learn to
survive' and was established nationally by people living positively with
HIV/AIDS. 'Our people suffer and our children weep. AIDS is the wolf and we
are the sheep,' Father Dennis said as he opened the gathering with a prayer.
The 130 members answered, 'Lord, give us knowledge and strength'. They wore
t-shirts on which was printed 'I'm living positively. Do you?' They prayed
to be armed with courage, compassion and care.

Spurred on by now veteran HIV/Aids campaigner, 26-year-old Emma
Tuahepa-Kamapoha, as well as a frail yet courageous former secondary school
principal Roswitha Maswahu Ndumba, the Kavango group's main aim is to break
down the stigma, take care of the infected and affected and to set up a
counselling centre.

'In five years' time, we want to eliminate HIV [from the face of Kavango].
Coming out is the first step to do away with discrimination,' Ndumba said in
what reflected their clear statement of intent. Better known as Roswitha,
the 40-year-old lost her soldier husband two-years ago due to an
AIDS-related illness and now depends on the R1,000 (US$125) contributions
each month by her two brothers and two sisters. 'The R4,000 pay for my
medication only,' the mother of three said.

During the ceremony she warned those contributing to the stigma that 'you
don't know whether you are the next'. Roswitha vowed to lead until she dies.
'If I die, one of you will take over,' she told the group who responded with
ululating. There were concerns that Roswitha would not make the ceremony,
and her dream simply became that of staying alive to be part of Saturday's
'celebration of life'.

She has had to fight off several bouts of opportunistic diseases, with
bruises from the latest still visible on her arms. Health Deputy Minister
Richard Kamwi was touched by what he saw and described the objectives of the
group as 'noble'. 'I admire you. You may be subjected to difficult
situations, but please keep up your good spirits. Your sacrifices will be
worth it in the long run. You help us save lives. You have, indeed, taken on
a great responsibility,' he said.

Kamwi said it was important that the infected and affected came together to
share experiences and called on the Lironga Eparu national leadership to
establish similar groups all over the country. 'Welcome to our extended
family. We must work together to fight AIDS. There is no choice about it,'
he said. He urged the church in the country to reclaim its historical role
of leading the fight as it had against the apartheid regime in the past.

Kamwi said it was important to note that behind the statistics were humans.
'They need to live with dignity,' he said, through practical support that
must be rendered by the community. 'Prejudices reduce a human being to a
thing - a thing like a disease. It destroys the dignity of a sufferer'.

Emma, the first Namibian to publicly declare she had contracted HIV through
sexual intercourse, called for love, care and support for the group. 'Don't
isolate us. Don't throw us away,' the young woman with an education diploma
said. She urged group members to keep the virus to themselves and to abstain
from unprotected sex.

"I told myself 'it is my virus, I'm not gonna infect somebody else'," the
young woman, who discovered her status eight years ago, said. Most
importantly, she pointed out that the group's move would be worth nothing if
there was no supportive mechanism from both government and the community to
keep them going.

Catholic AIDS Action national co-ordinator Lucy Steinitz said Lironga Eparu
would change the face of AIDS in Namibia, a country with a total population
of just 1,7-million. 'By going public, by sharing one's status with friends
and family, the person who is infected with HIV breaks down the barriers of
isolation and can live longer, more positively and more supported by
others,' she said.